Director-general of the Godswill Akpabio Campaign Organisation, Idongesit Nkanga, said yesterday in Uyo that opposition parties in the state would fail in the upcoming elections if they do not campaign sufficiently.
The retired air commodore who spoke in Akwa Ibom State at the PDP campaign rally in the Ikot Ekpene senatorial district for the governor, Mr. Akpabio, wondered how opposition parties would win any of the contested seats in the elections when they did not campaign for votes. He noted that some of the gubernatorial candidates in the opposition parties did not have deputies, federal and state representatives and local government chairmen.
Reacting to Mr. Nkanga’s comments, the chairman, media and publicity, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Udoedehe Campaign Organisation, Thomas Akpan, told the PDP to focus on its own campaign as the ACN would win at the end of the day. He cautioned the PDP against acting superior, noting that the ACN would flag off its campaigns in the state the following Wednesday.
“We will soon come to Akwa Ibom in the South-South and flag off our campaign,” he said. “We are not as stupid as PDP. PDP is losing this election hands down. Let them leave ACN alone and concentrate on their business. Whether we run election, whether we campaign or not, all we know is that we are going to defeat Akpabio hands down. That should not be their worry, it is our own worry.
“We are going to flag off our campaign on Wednesday at Uyo Sports Stadium. The presidential candidate for Action Congress of Nigeria, all the governors and all the candidates for ACN in South-South are meeting in Uyo on Wednesday to flag off the campaign. It is only then, after flagging off the campaign and giving flags to our candidates, that we will start our campaign throughout Akwa Ibom State.”
The ACN is the major opposition party seen to be contending strongly against the PDP in the state. Its flagbearer for the gubernatorial poll is John James Udoedehe, erstwhile campaign manager for Godswill Akpabio in the 2007 elections, and who broke out from the PDP.
